The Richard Spooner Column: Memories of Motty
My first day working in professional football was also my inaugural encounter with one of the game 's most recognisable voices.
John Motson, the legendary BBC Sport commentator who died on Wednesday evening, had been assigned to Aston Villa 's clash with Chelsea in February 2009. It also happened to be the first day of employment at Villa Park for yours truly.
I 'd been summoned to tunnel area to shadow Villa 's in-house TV team.
We were flanked by a proliferation of international broadcasters, along with those from Sky and BBC - such was the buzz around this fixture, with Villa in hot pursuit of European qualification and revered Dutch coach Guus Hiddink debuting in the Londoners ' dugout.
The nerves, adrenaline and relentless hype were a lot to take in on this momentous day in my career.
Cutting through the noise and the chaos were the unmistakable tones of Motty.
Having completed his duties for Match of the Day, he agreed to join us for a short piece to discuss the fortunes of Martin O 'Neill 's Villa side.
He was generous with his time and no less meticulous for Villa TV than when carrying out his own job.
It was the first of several encounters I had with the man known to generations of supporters as the voice of the football.
When in Motson 's presence, it was hard not to be impressed by his encyclopaedic knowledge, forensic attention to detail and penchant for statistics.
And you couldn 't help but love his old school approach. While modern sports journalists rely on ready-made statistical aids such as the website Soccerbase, Motson could always been found scouring the matchday programme for information.
This was a particularly heartening sight for those of us who spent the best part of a fortnight slogging away to ensure that day 's publication was the best it could be.
When assigned to a Villa game, Motson would call my colleague Jack Woodward (the club 's in-house commentator and host of the Chamber 's recent SLTC Awards) a few days in advance for the latest team news - preferring to hear it from the horse 's mouth than through external sources.
Past Chamber chief executive Paul Faulkner 's first taste of live TV exposure came during a pitchside interview with Motson - the then Villa CEO agreeing to answer questions about the state of play at the club for BBC 's Football Focus.
A pedant for football facts, Motson also proved to be a stickler for routine, as I discovered when the great man reported for duty at Selhurst Park one afternoon as Villa faced Crystal Palace.
His stringent pre-match routine demanded that he had a coffee and a KitKat delivered to the gantry before kick-off.
The BBC production assistant on duty in South London that day received a short shrift from Motty after presenting him with a KitKat Chunky rather than the traditional four-fingered chocolate snack.
But we can forgive such diva-like incidents because almost every football fan has a favourite Motty moment or could, at least, relate to his boyish excitement.
A personal favourite of mine came during the 2002 World Cup when David Beckham 's penalty earned England a famous 1-0 win over Argentina.
The notion that viewers were sat round a dinner table rattling their crockery - in reference to the Sunday lunchtime kick-off - famously became the thread of Motson 's commentary.
“Hold the cups and glasses back home�you can smash them now. Beckham has scored for England! ”
Pure Motty Magic!
DH